It's In The Bro Code
by Anime Girl23
Summary: Pinn Weekend - 1 - Moving on after high school is something that you're never truly ready for. There's always that part of you that gets scared. Joining the army makes it scarier, but this is it. Their plane is waiting and Finn and Puck… They have to leave.


First fic for Pinn Weekend! I introduce the Army Boyfriends verse! _**Please note that this is the first fic in a series of standalone fics. If you want to follow this verse, choose Author Alert. No additional chapters will be added to this fic.**_As always, reviews are love, even if it's something short.

Disclaimer: Glee doesn't belong to me.

It's In The Bro Code  
One-shot

When they were five, they said they were gonna be superheroes.

When they were nine, they said they were gonna be cowboys.

When they were thirteen, they said they were gonna be rock stars.

When they were seventeen, all they wanted to be was friends again.

The thing about life, though, is that as you get older, you let go of the ideas you had as kids. Your dreams shift and they change until you find a dream that fits who you are when you're finally ready to enter the real world. That moment when you walk across the stage at graduation to the moment that you hug your parents goodbye and promise to keep in touch.

They had made their choices, though. They'd sat down. They'd done the talks. They'd signed the papers. They'd gotten their assignments. All that was left was to leave.

Puck looked over at Finn, his bottom lip between his teeth as he watched Carole hug the guy. Watched her cry and beg him to be safe and… Hell, they weren't even going to war. They were going to basic training. The details probably didn't matter to Carole, though, and as his own mother pulled him into a hug, he knew that they probably didn't matter to any of them. Couldn't. Him and Finn were still leaving and even if they were only flying to Georgia, it was the _army_. It was fighting. It was danger. It was risk. That was all they saw.

He wondered if he saw the nerves bundled up in him and Finn. If they saw the worry about, fuck, what if they mess up? Accidents could still happen on base. A drill could go wrong.

One of them could get deployed without the other.

He shook the thought off before it could go any further. Knew that it was always a risk, because the army didn't do a fucking buddy system when it came to that crap, but… Fuck. They signed up together, because that was what they _did_.

Every guy had their own version of the bro code. Had their own list of what was important and of what defined your friendship. Had their own list that showed just how far two guys would go for each other.

The rules and the rankings varied, but one was always there.

Always have your bro's back.

Finn had been the one to choose the army, the words spilling out over beers and extra-bacon potato skins that his mom would have killed him if she knew about. Told him about what he wanted to do in memory of his dad and… It was honorable. Finn had always been the honorable one, jumping into something for someone else without ever really thinking about how much that meant for him. Honorable and stupid all at the same time and maybe Finn hadn't thought about what that would mean for his future. Maybe he had.

He thought about Finn in his car after they took Rachel to the train station, dressed in his suit and crying over doing the honorable thing. Again. Sent Rachel off to follow her dream instead of putting it on hold and he would have hit the guy if the asshole's day hadn't been sucking enough.

Yeah, he thought. Finn had thought about the army stuff, probably more than anything else in his entire life. He knew what that commitment would mean. What his future would be. Training. Fighting. Weapons. Time away from his family. A life to be proud of, but not an easy one.

"_I'm going with you."_

He remembered the shock on Finn's face when he'd told him that day, their fingers greasy from the potato skins and their bellies warm from the beers. Remembered the resolve in himself and admitting that he didn't want LA. Not without Finn. Going out there alone… That wasn't the life he wanted.

"_Someone's gotta keep your clumsy ass alive."_

Always have your bro's back.

As they got ready to board the plane, though, he wondered if they were doing the right thing. If Finn breaking his and Rachel's hearts was worth it. If the slap and the hug and the _you idiot_ from Quinn was worth it.

He touched his cheek at the memory before he shrugged it off. Wrapped Sarah up into a hug and let the brat cry into his shoulder. "It's alright, kid."

"You're leaving…"

"I'm gonna kick butt."

She pressed a kiss to his cheek like it was the last one she was ever gonna give him and he felt the guilt in his stomach. Thought about how she had never been without him for more than a couple weeks before and, now, he was gonna be gone. He was leaving his kid sister and his mom.

Him and Finn were leaving everything but each other.

"Ready, man?"

Finn pulled away from Kurt, a step away from blubbering like an idiot, and nodded. "Yeah. I'm ready." He wondered if everyone else knew that was Finn Code for _no_.

He clapped a hand on his friend's shoulder, squeezing it as they both moved back a step. "We'll call," he told them, a lump in his throat.

"Just stay safe," Burt said, his baseball cap clutched in his hand.

They both nodded and he turned his head to look at the clock. Felt the nerves in his stomach growing. Felt that childish urge to cling to his mom and beg her to take him home. He couldn't knew. Knew he couldn't. "We gotta…"

"Go," his mom said and, fuck, he knew her like the back of his hand. Her face was calm, but her entire body was shaking as she held on to Sarah. As she said goodbye to her son and the sort-of son Finn was to her.

Walking away from them might have been even harder than the hugs and kisses, but they made it after a while. Got on the plane and got in their seats, buckled in and… Leaving.

He gave Finn points for not crying until they were in the air.

He hadn't managed that.

The End


End file.
